Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1887-04-19
9ai19 eagle
BONNER IN OLD AGE.
THE MAN WHO WAS ONCE NOTED
FOR QUAINT ADVERTISING.


Developing Gold Mine by tie Use OF
Printers Ink-Wages Paid to Contrib.
utors-A Keen Critis-In the Sanctum
and at Home.
Not long ago saw man crossing the
street railway tracks near the Franklin
statue with the gait of an old farmer. He
wore old fashioned broadcloth, with a low
cut waistcoat and a rundown collar with
a black tie His overcOat pocket was
stuffed with newspapers and magazines.
A heavy bundle nestled under his arm.
Thick arctic shoes covered his feet for the
weather was wintry. His hair and hat
reminded me of the late John A. Logan.
Like Logan, he wore his hat on the back
Of his head The man was well knit, and
his head set quite close to his shoulders.
He had high forehead, with fully devel-
oped perceptive faculties. The eyes were
hazel and pleasant in expression, the nose
was clear and well cut, and the face quite
broad and placid He loped along as
though lost in thought. There was
nothing about him that would attract
special attention. A Jerseyman might
have taken him for some preacher in the
Dutch Reformed church on his way to
Aquackenowk.
NEVER "PETERED OUT
He was the man, however, who deYel-
oped gold mine by the use of printers
ink a quarter of century ago quicker
than any man in America since that time.
That mine has never "petered out" 1t is
as good to-day as when first discovered.
He was Robert Bonner. When boy l
set type in his Office. He was even then
as deliberate of motion and as reflective in
mind as he is to-day. Mr.. Bonner,s adj
vertising method was not a cloud burst
which attracted momentary attention. 1t
was a steady stream Of water pouring from
clear sky for an indefinite period Be-
fore six months the stream excited uni
versal interest. People wanted to know
where it came from, and what made it.
They bought his family newspaper to as
certain its source, and Mr.. Bonner quickly
became rich. Keen men, who initiated but
never equaled his quaint advertising, also
waXed wealthy. Others, who got in later,
tainted by the wayside, for the novelty Of
the advertising display was soon gone.
Mr. Bonner spends from four to five
hours day in his sanctum 1t is an odd
little room. Everything seems to be in
confusion The chairs are filled with piles
of old newspapers, and books and maya
zines are scattered in every corner. En-
cravings and photographs, recalling the
triumphs and friendships of past years,
hang on the walls. Bones, models OF
hoofs, horseshoes and other oddities sug-
gestive of n love of equine speed are in
the room. The editorial desk is a litter of
letters and newspaper clippings. Horace
Greeley's old Tribune table was never in
n worse condition. Nobody but Mr., Bon
ner himself however, touches anything in
the room. If he wants any special article
he fishes amolg the litter at given spot
until he finds it. A good sized safe sQuats
at one end Of tho room. 1t is filed with
curiOsities that have value peculiarly
delightful to Mr.. Bonner alone. For in
stance, it contains the gold watch that
marked DeXter's first wonderful time.
The independent second hand remains on
the fraction of a second as the catch was
sprung, and has never been thrown back
to the hour since the horse dashed under
the string Near this watch rests a sec
Ond chronometer, marking the time OF
PocahOntas, and a third recalling the I'M
rivaled achievement of the peerless Maud
S. How many other souvenirs of the
glorics past the safe hides from public
view MIR. Bonner alone can tell.
PAID LARGE SALARIES.
The wonderful sums paid to Edward
Everett. Henry Ward Beecher and Fanny
Fern have repeatedly boon made public
These were by no means the only writers
10 whom Mr.. Bonner paid large salaries
Oliver Dyer, a stenographer, for years
edited the correspondents column at $50
a week After decade of this drudgery
4. L II
entitled The WiCkedest Man in New
York He awOkc the next morning
and3 found himself famous. Within
year Charles A. Dana was paying him
800 a week fer special reports on The
Sun. Mr.. Bonner opened his eyes.
''Here Oliver he said one afternoon, ''if
you're worth 800 week to men outside
The Ledger Office, you're certainly worth
that money to the men inside of it. Stick
TO your Answers 10 Correspondents here
after, and draw your 500 week"
From that day TO the present the veteran
has retained his easy berth.
Mr. Bonner is not only keen literary
critic, but he is an accurate judge Of men.
His knowledge of human nature seems in
tuitive. His Judgment is quick and de-
cisive. He knows what he wants and he
pays handsomely for it. No man can
coax him to buy what he doesn't want.
He trimmed his sails and laid his news
paper course thirty years ago, and he has
pursued it since then without jibing or
making a tack. His columns are never
at the service of his friends. He refuses
to grind even the most infinitessimal Of
axes. To all such appeals he is adamant.
He frequently steels himself against his
own sympathieS in nerving himself to
refuse such requests.
Between 3 and 4 p. IN. Mr.. Bonner up
sets his waste paper basket, pulls on his
overshoes, descends the stairs and trudges
homeward. He walks over to the Park
place elevated station and rides to Fifty
eighth street. He lives GA this street,
within 200 feet of Fifth avenue. The
house is a plain brown stone front, four
stories high, and without any extra trim
minGs. 1t is substantially but not gaud-
lily furnished Bookcases are not only
filed, but volumes are piled upon the
parlor tables without regard to effect
Bonner is n plain, matter of fact home
man. lie has no box at the opera and
never saw him at a theatre. He gives no
social entert3inmentS.-New York Cor.
Pioneer Press.
Jordan Water for the Royal Baptism.
A curious offer was made the other day
by a lady who recently returned from